Finally done with classes! We graduated from SILS and have the certificates to prove it.
Erika’s in Tokyo! It’s only for a few days, and she actually left today, but it was nice to see her. The day she came, we went to see fireworks in Sumidagawa, which is apparently the biggest fireworks event in Tokyo. My host dad wasn’t lying when he said it would be crowded–there were so many people we could barely get through, and we weren’t able to get to a place where we could clearly see them, but we got a decent enough view. It was really nice to wear yukata with Erika and my friends. (Finally, it had been a dream of mine for a while haha.)
The next day my host family had a house party, and I got to invite Jon, Vageesha, and Shiori. Like last time, Nami-san’s dad chopped up fish and we got to eat it fresh, and he brought his guitar and played it while we sang along. I got the drunkest I’ve been in a while, and made a right fool of myself, but it was a ton of fun. At least, for me–I’m not sure if my friends had fun or not because they didn’t get that drunk, though when I asked them later they said they enjoyed watching me being stupid.
On Monday, I got lunch with Erika with this really oshare (cool, fashionable) cafe, which was half-flower shop, so it had a really cool atmosphere. Then we found a place in the grass in Yoyogi Park and lay down for a few hours, stealing kisses while no one was looking and falling asleep snuggled next to each other. It’s a memory that I think will last with me for a long time.
That night I did all-night karaoke with my circle, The Lit Soc. I forget if I’ve mentioned it before, but it’s a circle where we write short stories and share them with each other. We put together a magazine of our stories and it came out really good! Anyway, I hadn’t done karaoke in a while so it was really fun. I had thought that doing all-night karaoke would tire me out, and it did by the end, but surprisingly it felt like we didn’t have enough time to sing all the songs we wanted to. I did manage to get in a few Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and some golden oldies for good measure, though.
Yesterday I had dinner with Erika’s dad in Shibuya at this hidden, really good izakaya-type place. I really like Erika’s dad–he’s so casual, chill, and friendly. I’m glad my girlfriend’s dad isn’t like the stereotypical, strict dad who hates his daughter’s boyfriend. After that, Erika and I climbed Tokyo Tower, which had a beautiful view of the Tokyo skyline. It made me realize how much I’m going to miss this city. Being up so high, looking over my favorite city, with my favorite person in the world, made me the happiest I’ve been in a while.
Today Jon went home to LA. I accompanied him to the airport with Vageesha and Shiori. It wasn’t as sad and didn’t feel like the end for me, since I’ll be going to LA before going back to NY, but seeing how shaken Vageesha and Shiori were after we said goodbye made it start to sink in. I dunno if it’s gonna hit me until I’m on the plane going home. I’ll probably end up sobbing onto the person sitting next to me.
Hi guys, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? Sorry I haven’t written anything lately, I guess I’ve been too busy/lazy. But it’s almost 10 at night and tomorrow I have pretty much nothing to do so I figured I might as well stay up to write. So much has happened that it would take too long to talk about it all, so I’ll limit it to the recent Farewell Party that Niji no Kai had about a week ago.
First of all, I can’t even believe that it’s already getting to be the time for farewells. It doesn’t really feel like I’m leaving soon. Nothing’s really changed, except I have final tests/presentations for class, and everyone keeps saying how sad it’ll be when I leave. I can’t believe it’s already been nearly a year since I came to Japan. To think that I had originally wanted to do just half a year… There have definitely been some rough times this year, but overall it was an incredible, unforgettable experience that I’m so glad I got to have, and I’m so glad I decided to do a full year. I would never have been able to make such good friends as I have now.
So this farewell party was in honor of all the foreign exchange students that will be leaving soon. There were two parts: the first was at Waseda’s cafeteria, which Niji no Kai reserved for the party; the second was in Shinjuku, at the same place where we had the Christmas Party. The first part was from like 7-9, and had a pretty calm atmosphere, just members of Niji no Kai standing around tables, drinking and talking. I hung out with my usual friends and met another person who will be studying abroad in America next year (Earlham College in Indiana, the same place where my Japanese friends Shiori and Kotaro will be studying). There was also a video shown of a bunch of the Japanese members of Niji saying their goodbyes to the foreign exchange students and telling us how happy they were to have met us. It was really sweet.
The next part was the part that my Japanese friends told me had been sort of like a club last year. It went until 4 in the morning, so this was basically the “real” party. People gave performances on stage, which were mostly pretty happy, upbeat things like dancing or that cup-stacking game. But for the last act, Vageesha, our friend Julie, and I (we had decided that day) played a song. First, Vageesha gave this heart-wrenching speech about how Niji was like family to him, which made more than one person in the crowd start bawling. Then we played the song “Into the West” (you know, the last song from The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King) with Vageesha on guitar and Julie and I singing. Ever since I sang “Twist and Shout” at the Niji Live (oh that’s right, I didn’t blog about that! I sang some Beatles songs with some of my Niji friends at this mini-concert thing we put on. It was the first time I had ever sang in front of anyone, so I was incredibly nervous, but it was the most fun I’d had in a while and I realized I wanted to keep doing it) I had wanted to sing more, so I was happy to do this slower, sadder song. It was amazing–before we went on, everyone was in a pretty good mood, pumped-up from the other performances. But after we went on, everyone was sobbing. I’m glad we got to do that, because after all, it’s a farewell party, and people need to be crying! I actually cried my eyes out with Vageesha (Jon fell asleep) which I hadn’t expected at all. I never cry in front of other people, but with all these great people who I can proudly call my friends around me, I couldn’t help but let it all out. These are some of the greatest friends I’ve ever had, and I can’t believe I only met them less than a year ago.
I’m sad to be leaving, but I’m also kind of relieved, to be honest. A year is still a long time, and I’ve begun to miss my life back home. I miss being around my family, my dog, my old friends. I miss having my own space, that I can really call mine. And of course I miss not having to use Japanese all the time.
I leave Japan on August 3 (less than two weeks from now…) but before then, I plan on doing plenty with my friends. Who knows when I’ll see them again. So for now, no tears. I’m going to enjoy the rest of my time here to the fullest.
I’ll leave you with the song we sang at the party. It’s so symbolic of our leaving–we’re literally going into the west–and I feel like I’m just going to play it on repeat on the plane home. Anyway, enjoy, and until next time!
Wow, that was fun. Two nights, three days at a retreat with 150 members of Niji no Kai, Shinkan Gasshuku is probably the biggest event of the year. It’s meant to introduce the incoming freshmen to the club in a big way. Basically, we drink a lot. Though other than that, there were several very interesting things, the most interesting one being when Taigo, the president this year, had to go around the room, naming everyone’s name, where they come from, the school they go to, and what department they’re in. He remembered all 150 of them. It was the most incredible, intense thing I’ve ever witnessed. Everyone was completely silent for forty-five minutes. Apparently every president has to do that, and they study for about two months beforehand. I asked what happens if you mess up and forget one, and the answer was simple: you don’t mess up. Wow, Japan, you take your clubs seriously.
The drinking party was so much fun, even though it was an all-nighter and I was exhausted by the end of it and we had to get up really early the next day to take the bus and I felt like I was going to throw up the whole way home. Even so, I’m really glad I went. I met so many new people and became better friends with the ones I already have. I’m really glad I’m in this circle, they’re starting to really feel like my family. It’s finally hitting me that I have less than three months until I go home.
Speaking of family, lately I really haven’t wanted to be home with my host family. Every night, my host dad argues with his father, trying to get him to leave the house and live on his own. He also argues with Nami-san a lot, and treats her pretty badly. Not to mention he’s drunk all the time. I used to feel bad about not being home, but now I don’t really want to be. I just feel bad for Nami-san and Ryo.
Sorry for the very long hiatus! I’ve been pretty busy, what with classes starting up again, stuff in my personal life, and just hanging out with my friends and host family, so I haven’t really had time for blogging. And when I do have free time, I’m usually too tired to blog and I just want to watch Mad Men or something. But Golden Week starts today, and I have some time before I have to go to a barbecue, so I figured I might as well catch you all up! (Golden Week is a week-long holiday in Japan where (almost) everyone gets off work and school, though apparently my host family doesn’t.)
Actually, it’s not entirely true that I haven’t been blogging–I’m contributing to a blog for my college, which I do every two weeks or so, so I’ve actually written a couple of blog posts in the time between my last one on this blog and now. Rather than re-write them here, which would make for a very long post, I’ll just post links to them:
Since my last post, not a whole lot has happened (it’s only been two days, after all) though I’ve been spending more time with my host family, and the big drama happening now is that my host parents want Tatsuo-san (the grandpa) to move out and live in a one-room apartment. It’s apparently too hard living with him. It’s Akio-san’s father, and Akio-san really hates him, for reasons that aren’t entirely clear to me. I think it has something to do with his childhood, and how Tatsuo-san wasn’t always around, instead choosing to travel around the world and spend all his money, leaving Akio-san to sort of clean up the mess and get the family company in order. Also, Tatsuo-san is very forgetful, being in his 80s, so Akio-san will tell Tatsuo-san something and he’ll forget minutes later, which drives Akio-san crazy. To me, the forgetfulness is something that comes with old age and I don’t think you should hold it against the person. Tatsuo-san is a very gentle, kind person, even in the face of Akio-san yelling at him. But I guess I could understand why he would want him to move out, though I really don’t think he’ll be able to survive on his own. He can barely function here, with his family living right downstairs. They’re apparently going to do a trial run for about a week and see how he does.
This being Golden Week, everyone’s making travel plans, and as for me, I’m going to this event that my circle, Niji no Kai, is putting on, called Shinkan Gasshuku, which is basically a two-night retreat/drinking fest. I’m super excited, because pretty much all of my friends are going to be there, as well as lots of people I don’t know. This is supposed to be the biggest, most fun event of the year, so I’ll update afterward on how it went!
Anyway, that’s all for now. Oh, and if you didn’t read the two above blog posts, the one thing you should know is I SHOOK KYARY PAMYU PAMYU’S HAND. She had a free concert promoting her new single and if you bought her CD you got to shake her hand, and, well, I couldn’t pass that up! Happiest moment of my life. (It’s all downhill from here haha.)
Here’s the video of her new single, and in typical Kyary fashion, it’s quite weird:
The past few days have been a mix of crazy and relaxing. On Friday my program, GLCA, had a final meeting about our upcoming cultural practicum, which, if I haven’t explained it before, is something that everyone in the program has to do. We each go somewhere for a month and volunteer or intern or do something similar. There are several options provided by the program, and the one I’m doing is working at a café and then a day center in Kyoto. The café is supposed to be open to anyone, so I think the idea is that people who maybe feel discriminated against and want a safe place to stay can come. I work there for two weeks, and then the next two weeks I work at a day center for old and handicapped people. I’ll be living alone in an apartment. So we got more information about it, and then had a little reunion party. I got to see people I don’t normally see, which was nice.
Afterwards I went with Cory, Kayla, and some other people to this place called Cat Street in Harajuku. It’s a cute hidden streets with a bunch of unusual shops as well as sporty clothing stores. It took me a while to realize that it was right near the apartment where I stayed with Erika during winter break. It was right there the whole time and we just walked past it every day.
After that Jon, Cory, Vageesha, and I filmed part of a music video that the Niji no Kai girls are going to present to the guys on Valentine’s Day. The way Valentine’s Day works in Japan is that on February 14 girls give guys stuff, like chocolates and cards, while the next month on March 14, which is called White Day, guys give girls stuff. I think you give milk/dark chocolate on Valentine’s Day and white chocolate on White Day, though I may be making that up.
Then we all went to Dragon Men again to get drunk for cheap. Again I got hit on by multiple guys, two of whom friend requested me on Facebook, which I don’t even understand how they did because I didn’t give them my last name…
That night I had been invited to go to a club where Kyary Pamyu Pamyu was supposed to be, since she was celebrating her 21st birthday. I was incredibly excited since I’m kind of obsessed with her. I kept pestering the guy who invited me, Joey, about whether it was definitely happening or not, but he and the people who were planning it ended up not wanting to go because it was too expensive. But that’s bullshit because it was only 2600 yen per person, which is about the same price you would normally pay to go to a club, maybe a bit more expensive, but I mean a world-famous pop icon was going to be there so of course it’s going to be pricey. We ended up all going to this club called Adam, which was supposed to be famous but I don’t see why because it wasn’t all that great. However I was absolutely hammered so I couldn’t care less. In fact I think that was the drunkest I’d ever been. I talked waaaay slower than usual, and the next day people kept telling me all these things that happened that I didn’t remember at all. Kind of scary since I’ve never really blacked out before. I ended up falling asleep on the train home and missing my stop by over an hour, so I didn’t get home until 8:30 in the morning. My host family was already up, but luckily they were very cool about it and told me to sleep. Definitely one of my worse experiences.
The next day I had agreed to go to a ryokan, or Japanese-style inn, where they had onsen, which are these really hot outdoor baths. Of course I overslept and felt awful but I rushed to meet my friends. I thought I was going to have to bail, which would mean I would be out 7800 yen since they had already booked me, but I ended up getting there in time, thank god. If you’ve been keeping up with this blog, you know that I really don’t like being naked in front of other people, except my girlfriend. So at first I was kind of hesitant and awkward about going into the onsen. But after a while, I did get used to it. I may not be all that proud of my body, but nobody else really cares so I shouldn’t be worried. The baths were so incredibly hot I thought my insides were going to boil (which they apparently do after about half an hour…).
Our dinner was incredible–perhaps the single nicest meal I’ve ever had. Each person got two nabe, which is like a pot of vegetables and meat in boiling water, plus all these really fancy food like snail and sushi. We went into the onsen again after that, and then got all cozy with a bottle of vodka and hung out in one of our rooms, telling ghost stories, riddles, and just generally having a great time. Me and Zack roomed together, which was pretty hilarious since we were both still hungover from the club and acted incredibly stupid the entire weekend. I’m pretty sure I lost a good amount of my brain cells because that might have been the stupidest I’ve ever been. Forgetting things, not knowing what’s going on…but it made things pretty funny, to say the least.
The next morning we got up bright and early, went into the onsen, had another nice meal, went into the onsen again, and went to this nearby beach that, even though it was very cold and early, was filled with surfers (pictures below). Finally we headed home, but me, Zack, and Nina went to Akihabara first, where we ate abura soba (oily noodles) and looked at porn. Well, I mean we went into one of those “book stores” that’s actually just filled with scantily clad anime girls. Zack bought a BL (boy love) manga, and I was unsuccessful at finding any GL. Ah well. (I just remembered my parents read this blog…whoops.)
Even though I was incredibly tired by the time I got home, my host family had people over so I had to drink and talk with them. It was fun though, as always.
This morning I had one of the most vivid dreams I’ve ever had. It was like the saga of one guy’s love life, like How I Met Your Mother if it were a drama not a comedy. It was so interesting. I think I was the main character, since it paralleled somewhat to my own love life, but I don’t really know. Anyway, it really inspired me so I really want to turn it into a novel. Though we’ll see if anything actually comes of it. Anyway, here are some pics:
Me, Shiori, and Nina selfie at the beach
Vageesha on the beach
More beach. Can you see all the surfers?
Cameron on the beach
An abandoned pool
And I’ll leave you with more Submarines. Thanks for reading!
Yesterday I went to a party for Akio-san’s company with Akio-san, Nami-san, Ryo, and Nami-san’s mom. I had asked my friends to come but none of them did (*cries*). It was held at this super fancy hotel and had all this super-fancy food. That’s one perk of having a rich host dad. I enjoyed getting another chance to dress up, though I regret not bringing an actual suit. It was funny, everyone was wearing dark suits and ties except Akio-san, who was wearing a light brown jacket and pants and no tie. I guess he can do what he wants because he’s the president haha. We were also let in ahead of everyone else, which was pretty cool. Akio-san’s sister and Kana-chan’s (the one I met when I first came to Japan) mother were there too. We all stood around drinking and listening to speeches and eating great food; it was a lot less boring than I thought it would be. Though I felt bad for Ryo, who was by far the youngest one there. There were also randomly sumos there, whom I took a picture with.
Me, Ryo, and a famous sumo at Akio-san’s work party.
After that the housewives and I went to a restaurant that served Osaka food and drink. Everyone kept telling me my Japanese got a lot better, which made me really happy. It was a very interesting conversation. We talked about how Japanese guys want girls to stay home and do the housework, and how after a certain age it’s very difficult for Japanese women to marry. I told them they should be able to follow their dreams and find a job they like instead of being stuck at home, which they were happy about. We also talked about how they had learned to stop fighting with their husbands because it just ends up badly, so when their husbands get angry they just stay calm and don’t fight back, and then usually the next morning the husband will apologize. I thought it was probably not good to just not fight back, but admitted that I didn’t have enough experience to know really. Then we got to talking about Akio-san. This is where I probably crossed a line. I told them what I really thought–that he shouldn’t treat Tatsuo-san so badly since he basically has everything he has because of him. Apparently though he may have had a sort of rough childhood and I think they didn’t get along well back then either. Deep down though, Nami-san said he loves his dad, and he’s kind at heart. Apparently, Nami-san and Akio-san fight more often than I realize, I’m just usually not there. I told her she was too nice for taking his shit. In hindsight I probably shouldn’t have said all those things, but I was drunk haha. I did apologize for it but she said there was nothing to apologize for.
Anyway it’s the morning after now and everything seems normal so I guess it’s fine. I should really try to be more careful with my words and overstepping my boundaries. I’m only a host student here, so I don’t really have the right to judge. Aaanyway, I might be seeing Kyary Pamyu Pamyu on Friday for her 21st birthday celebration! Is this real life??
I’m almost free! Yesterday I had my last two exams, so now all I’ve got are a couple more classes. My Japanese exam was pretty terrible–I left the kanji section almost entirely blank–but at least I managed to finish it in time and had some time to check it over. And honestly, I don’t really care that much about my grades in the class (especially since they don’t transfer back to Vassar); what’s more important to me is that I learn new stuff on my own that I can use in everyday life here. My other final was an in-class essay for my Japanese literature class, which I had only begun preparing for that day. It was open-notes, so I brought in a couple books to use for quotes and some notes I’d scribbled down. I thought it was going to be awful, but I actually think I did pretty well! It’s weird, for some reason I write a lot better under pressure. And during the final, my teacher said she was reading my previous paper, which I thought was terrible since I wrote it so quickly, and she said it was fantastic! Why didn’t I major in English? I’m clearly way better at it than computer science. Crap.
After that I went to go tutor the two daughters of another one of Nami-san’s friends, Chizako-san. She lives in Nishiazabu (Minato-ku) which is actually very close to where I live, Yoyogiuehara. I could also see Roppongi Hills from her house. Not a bad location! Chizako-san speaks the best English out of any of Nami-san’s friends, which is probably because of her ex-husband, who as far as I can tell can’t speak any Japanese. He also has an accent, so I don’t think English is his first language, but I couldn’t tell where he was from the one time I met him. Chizako-san’s daughters Isabella and Elisabeth are 4 and 7 respectively, and adorable. They can also speak pretty decent English! I was surprised at how quickly they could speak and think in English, especially the older one. The younger one was clearly having trouble understanding though, as she kept talking in Japanese–but I mean come on, she’s 4. We played card games the whole time, and it was a really relaxing way to end the day. When it came time to pay, I asked Chizako-san only for 1,000 yen, since that’s how much I charge everyone else per hour, and she was really surprised. She had taken out 3,000 yen so I think she was prepared to pay a lot more, but happily accepted my price and said I should come over more often and for longer. When I got home, Nami-san said she had called and said I was a really nice kid, which made me really happy.
I ended the night drinking with Nami-san, Akio-san, and Tatsuo-san, which I hadn’t done in a while because of studying for tests. I was surprised by how much I could understand from their conversation. I’m really starting to feel like I belong here. Last semester I still felt like an outsider, not understanding much about the language or the culture. But I’m finally getting that sense of home. I’m so glad I chose to do a year as opposed to one semester.
Also Erika just told me she’s trying to apply for a program in Kyoto for the summer! And it ends the same time my program ends, so we could both go back to LA together! I still feel pretty bad that I won’t be able to visit her in Paris because of lack of money. It’s gonna be hard not seeing her for so long, but I think it’ll be worth it.
Thanks for reading. I’ll leave you with some new music I’ve discovered recently. It sounds so familiar for some reason, but I don’t think I’ve heard it before.
Recently I’ve been pretty much just studying, going to class, eating and drinking. The semester is coming to a close, and everyone’s got final exams and reports to write. That’s why I haven’t been writing anything lately. Ugh, they really do suck though. I had two finals on Thursday, Linear Algebra and my Japanese literature class. I didn’t have enough time for the Linear Algebra final, so I left an entire page blank. And the literature one was just stupid: we had to memorize the titles and authors of all the works we read, which seems pretty pointless to me, and is pretty damn hard since most of the author’s names tend to blend together for me. To round out a pretty bad day, on the way home the train was super late so the platform got really crowded, and since the train was so crowded I missed my stop, and when I was getting off at the next stop someone pushed me off. How rude! Although I guess I should be happy that this is the first time it’s happened since I got here. In France I think that’s pretty normal.
I’ve been trying to organize a Skype with my dad for a while now and we both keep missing the times we set up. I feel pretty bad since I haven’t properly Skyped him since I got to Japan. I also really need to Skype with Erika. I’m trying to see if maybe I can visit her in France in mid-March, since that’s literally the only free time I’ll have all year. It’s just so freaking expensive. I haven’t even booked my flight home yet, which I really hope my parents are paying for. Plus I really need to get a Valentine’s gift together before I leave for Kyoto, which is in a little over a week. *Sigh* so many things.
It’s times like this that I really wish I had more privacy. That’s something you don’t get a lot of in Tokyo. Sure, I have my own room, but there’s not much space so it’s hard to do anything in there. Plus I don’t get internet so I can’t really work on anything. So I have to go into the living room to do pretty much anything, and my host family is always there. So I usually go to the library to study or do other stuff. Oh well, I’ll get a lot of privacy in Kyoto since I’ll be living alone in an apartment. (Which actually doesn’t sounds all that great, considering I’m pretty bad at taking care of myself…)
Also I just finished watching Death Note…whoa.
Anyway, hopefully next week I’ll have more interesting stuff to talk about. I’m going to an onsen (outdoor public bath) with some friends on February 1/2, which should be fine. In the meantime, check out Beck’s new song.
Lately I’ve been doing pretty boring stuff like studying, so there’s not a whole lot of interesting stuff to talk about, but I went to a nomikai on Wednesday for the first time in a while (well, what felt like a while) which was a lot of fun, since I got to see people I hadn’t seen for a while. And yesterday I was told by Nami-san to eat out, so I got dinner with Jon at this place in Takadanobaba called Cafe Gasto, which had really good margherita pizza. Then we grabbed drinks at The Cantina, where I had non-draft beer for the first time in a while–good old Corona and Modelo. It was a pretty great man-date.
Tonight, though, I’m on my own, since Nami-san again told me to eat out, but none of my friends could come out. Oh well, it’s nice to have some alone time for once. I’ve been in the library nearly all day, studying for dumb Linear Algebra, so I think I’ll go shopping or something to reward myself. And there’s no better place to be alone than Tokyo.
I do find it kind of weird that twice in a row I’ve been asked to eat out. Before the new year I felt like I was too busy, barely seeing my host family, but now that I have more time they’re busy doing other stuff. *sigh*
I have noticed that things have been pretty tense lately–last night, Nami-san and Akio-san came home drunk, and Nami-san, laughing, told me that they had had a big fight. I wasn’t quite sure what to do, so I just laughed nervously. Is it not just a little weird how lightly they take these things?
Anyway, I’ll stop boring you and let you “fall in love” with Phantogram’s new song. (Hohoho aren’t I clever.)
Not much of note has been happening lately, but I do have a few interesting things to talk about. One thing that stood out happened a few days ago. We were all in the living room, me on my computer because it’s the only room I get internet, when some woman came to the door. Akio-san answered it, and called down Tatsuo-san. Then they all took seats at the table, and immediately Akio-san and Tatsuo-san started arguing. I had never heard Tatsuo-san get angry before; he’s always very gentle and kind, even when Akio-san is being mean to him. I had absolutely no idea what they were arguing about. Earlier that morning, Akio-san had asked me if in America people lived with their elders. I said not really, though my uncle lives with his dad. He commented that it’s tough, though I really don’t see how it can be that tough for him. Tatsuo-san lives on the second floor and stays there for the most part, except when he comes down to eat. Sure, he’s pretty forgetful, but that comes with old age, and it’s not like it makes things all that more difficult. Akio-san just has a very short temper, so gets irritated with him pretty easily. That made me wonder if the woman who came to the door was someone from a retirement home, who might take Tatsuo-san away, which would explain why he was so angry. At one point, Akio-san yelled “SHUT UP” in English, which I took as my cue to get the hell out of there. I retreated to my room, figuring it was best not to get involved. Whatever they were arguing about, Tatsuo-san was still here the next day, so they didn’t take him to a retirement home.
A few days later, I went to Hon-Atsugi again with Nami-san, Akio-san, and Ryo. As soon as we got there Akio-san and I started drinking. I couldn’t resist Suntory’s “The Premium Malts”. Definitely my favorite Japanese beer I’ve had so far. The kids played Pokemon on their 3DS’s. We had a nice, relaxed dinner, and afterwards I joined Akio-san and Nami-san’s dad in his bachelor pad (I think I talked about it before) for some guy time. We sat around listening to old vinyls, and I loved it. I asked him if he had any Beatles, and he played me Abbey Road. It was awesome. I definitely want a room like that in my future house.
We tried to do karaoke, but it wasn’t playing any sound, so Nami-san’s dad played some guitar while I sang along, reading a paper with lyrics (in pretty funny Engrish) he had written down. What a great family Nami-san has. They’re all just so happy and carefree. No wonder Nami-san turned out to be such a good person.
Afterwards I battled all the kids in Pokemon, doing fairly well and getting pretty into it. They seemed to really like me, and apparently asked Nami-san whether I would be coming back again. That made me really happy.
The next morning, though I was slightly hungover, Akio-san and I went to the local Gold’s Gym, which Akio-san is a member of. There was a puddle of vomit near the entrance to the elevator outside, which was a nice welcome. The gym itself was really nice though, and several famous people have used it, including Arnold Schwartzenegger and Mark Wahlberg. I’d neglected to bring my wallet or my phone, since I didn’t think I’d need them, but I had to fill out a form to use the gym so I was supposed to have my residence card (ridiculous, right?) but they let me in anyway. I used the treadmill for the first time since last summer, and even though I was hungover, it was surprisingly not that bad. It certainly woke me up. I definitely need to start running again, though. I did a couple leg workouts and then we called it a day. By the time we left the gym, which was only about an hour later, the vomit had already been cleaned up. Oh Japan, you’re so nice.
After that we went to a mochi-tsuki event going on at the local park. Mochi-tsuki is the new year’s tradition of pounding mochi until it’s ready to be prepared for consumption. They had me try it since I was the only foreigner there. You take a giant mallet with two hands, raise it over your head, and bring it down on the mochi. In between swings, someone adjusts the mochi so you can pound all sides of it. I didn’t do it right, so some elderly Japanese guys explained to me how to do it the right way afterwards. Also two Japanese high school girls had apparently never seen a white person before and wanted to talk to me (though I didn’t really believe that, since we were only an hour outside Tokyo, which has a lot of white people).
Then I left early with Akio-san and went to a nomikai with his old friend from work. I got sukiyaki at his suggestion, but completely failed at preparing it. (Seriously though, what kind of restaurant makes you cook your own food?) Though I was embarrassed, the food was too good to give up.
That night, I met up with Timmy and we joined my friends at this bar called “Dragon Men” in Nichome, the gay part of Tokyo. For only 1,000 yen(!!!!) we got all-you-can-drink for two hours. Why are all the gay places so much cheaper? It was so much fun, since almost everyone was there. Several people at the bar apparently asked about me, and I was persuaded to going and talking to them. I felt bad and kind of uncomfortable, since I guess I was leading them on even though I’m not gay, but it was at least a funny experience.
We all got very drunk and went to the gay club we had gone to before, Arty-Farty, which again was pretty fun. We ended early though so we could catch the last train. It was great getting drunk and partying with Timmy, since I’d never really done that before. In fact, I don’t think I’d ever seen him drunk before then.
And that’s what I’ve been up to this past week! I’ll leave you with some Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, because I just found her on Spotify (for some reason she’s listed as “Kyarypamyupamyu,” which didn’t show when I tried searching for her). I also discovered that a guy in my literature circle loves her too!
My Year In Tokyo 